Chevys Invade Germany

Bertel Schmitt
by Bertel Schmitt

Chevrolet has big plans for Germany. “Mid-term” one percent market share will be in Chevy’s crosshairs, says Automobilwoche [sub]. “We have a realistic chance to reach that level, which is very important for a German importer,“ Chevy’s Germany-chief Steffen Raschig told Automobilwoche. “This is my main target.“

He is aiming low.

According to recent statistics of the German Kraftfahrtbundesamt, Chevrolet already has a market share of 0.9 percent in Germany. They got there with 17,360 carts sold in the first seven months of 2011, up 46.3 percent compared to the same period in the prior year. With that under the belt, Raschig wants a meek one percent of share, “mid-term?”

As a good German manager, he only sets targets of which he knows that they are already as good as reached.

Long-term, Raschig has a more aspirational target of 60,000 cars. “We could reach that in 2016 already.” Germany usually is a 3 million unit market, so that would be a two percent share – in the neighborhood, but below Toyota and Hyundai, two brands that not necessarily break sales records in Deutschland.

Now don’t think Big Bad Bowtie when you think Chevrolet Deutschland. In the contrary, think small.

Chevy’s current offerings are depicted above: Spark, Aveo, Cruze, Orlando, Captiva. What we have is an importer of diminutive Daewoos in Chevy-clothing. But this is also supposed to change. Chevrolet wants to cover 75 percent of all segments in Germany. And then there is that talk of moving Chevy production to Germany. Something Raschig did not want to comment.

One aspect becomes clear: GM starts to marginalize Opel and Vauxhall. Moving Opel up-market had been the declared strategy since 2009: “The new strategy is designed to move Opel away from its image as “the European Chevrolet”– so that Chevrolet can become the European Chevrolet,” Ed Niedermeyer declared three years ago. If Opel can’t hack it up-market – tough, once Chevrolet has occupied the volume segments.

Bertel Schmitt
Bertel Schmitt

Bertel Schmitt comes back to journalism after taking a 35 year break in advertising and marketing. He ran and owned advertising agencies in Duesseldorf, Germany, and New York City. Volkswagen A.G. was Bertel's most important corporate account. Schmitt's advertising and marketing career touched many corners of the industry with a special focus on automotive products and services. Since 2004, he lives in Japan and China with his wife <a href="http://www.tomokoandbertel.com"> Tomoko </a>. Bertel Schmitt is a founding board member of the <a href="http://www.offshoresuperseries.com"> Offshore Super Series </a>, an American offshore powerboat racing organization. He is co-owner of the racing team Typhoon.

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  • Krhodes1 Krhodes1 on Aug 14, 2011

    Having spent the past 2.5 weeks in Germany, Sweden, Finland, and the Netherlands, I have seen a few of the Sparks around. Can't miss the ugly little things. Also a few Cruze. In a sea of proper European cars, those big gold bowties really stand out to American eyes. I see one HUGE issue with the lineup shown - no wagons. HUGE numbers of wagons in Germany, in all sizes from tiny to 5-series/E-class size. "Limousines", not so much, other than the BIG Germans.

    • Bryce Bryce on Aug 15, 2011

      Most people buy wagons not stupid SUVs those are purely a US POS

  • Inside Looking Out Inside Looking Out on Aug 14, 2011

    Drive Japanese and German cars side by side to understand why Germans consider Japanese cars as throwaways. Take Infinity vs BMW or Camry vs Passat - it is not even funny. German cars are not reliable but had reputation of lasting with some repairs longer than Japanese or Korean cars. It believed that with Asian cars everything breaks down at at some moment and it is cheaper throw it away and buy new one. German cars can be maintained and kept for decades. BTW I remember according to German polls Kia was rated to have highest customer satisfaction level, probably because of value. Toyotas were rated as most reliable cars year after year.

    • See 2 previous
    • Inside Looking Out Inside Looking Out on Aug 15, 2011

      @OldandSlow How about Acura TSX a.k.a Euro Honda Accord. It is not much different from Camry. Only decent Japanese cars are made by Nissan and Mazda (which may be gone soon though).For US German cars are over-engineered and do not make much sense.

  • Wolfwagen I have worked as a manager in both union and non-union locations. The best union employees were the ones who were indifferent to the union or told them to get bent. The worst ones were the ones who would run to the union for every little thing, even when it was their own actions that caused the problem or because they could not understand their own contract
  • Harry HOW i RECOVER MY LOST OR STOLEN FUNDS:You should gather and document all relevant details about the theft, such as transaction IDs, wallet addresses, and any communication with the scammer if any, and then proceed to message SYLVESTER. G. BRYANT to get back your lost/ stolen funds by sharing the evidence you've compiled. he was the only one who was able to recover my funds I was so surprised he got back my money worth $52k but glory be to God and all thanks to him.. here is his contact below: Instagram: Yt7crackerszEmail: Yt7crackersz@ gmail,com
  • Daniel J I had read an article several years ago that one of the issues that workers were complaining about with this plant is that 1/3 of the workforce were temporary workers. They didn't have the same benefits as the other 2/3 of the employees. Will this improve this situation or make it worse? Do temporary workers get a vote?I honestly don't care as long as it is not a requirement to work at the plant.
  • Kosmo Tragic. Where in the name of all that is holy did anybody get the idea that self-driving cars were a good idea? I get the desire for lane-keeping, and use it myself, occasionally, but I don't even like to look across the car at my passenger while driving, let along relinquish complete control.
  • Bof65705611 There’s one of these around the corner from me. It still runs…driven daily, in fact. That fact always surprises me.
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